A Place on My Pillow

“I need my own apartment,” Polly whined one night at work.

“Move in with me,” Darren offered nonchalantly. It made Polly go stiff and stare at him. He turned and noticed her wide eyes. How could he just throw it out there? It were as if her were asking her to pass the salt or to lend her five bucks. No. He was asking her to move in with him! Sure, she lived with Cady and Alex, but that was because they gave her no other option. This was a legitimate offer.

“I mean, you don’t have to. I was just offering. Forget I said anything. It’s better if we both pretend this never happened.”

“No. It’s just… we don’t know each other.”

“We know plenty about each other,” Darren replied. He had on his sad, puppy dog eyes that convinced Polly to do pretty much anything. She mulled over the options. She hated to leave Alex and Cady alone, not after all this time. She had grown attached to them very quickly as they had her. It made something in her gut twist uncomfortably just thinking about leaving the twins’ home. And what about Otto? He wouldn’t like leaving them either. He didn’t mind Darren but he didn’t trust him like he immediately had Alex. The young dog still preferred Alex’s hands over Darren’s, being in Alex’s lap over Darren’s. In fact, Polly was almost positive the puppy had never once been in Darren’s lap. That was a major factor. Most people wouldn’t think of their dog, and put serious consideration into his comfort. But Otto had been all she’d had before she met Alex and Cady. Who else would she consider?
Besides, Darren thought they knew each other. He was an open book, for the most part. So yeah, sure, Pollyanna knew a lot about Darren, perhaps too much. But on the other hand, he barely knew her. She didn’t want to move in with someone that didn’t know her. Immediately, this thought struck her as odd. She’d just given in to Alex and Cady making her live in their home. She barely knew them then, and the same went for them not knowing her. Why was the idea of moving in with Darren so repulsive?

“I don’t think we do,” Polly replied, keeping her eyes down.

“Why do you say that?”

“When’s my birthday?” Polly asked. When there was no reply, she continued. “Where is my hometown? What kind of life did I have growing up? Who’d I lose my virginity to? What phobia was I diagnosed with as a kid? Can you answer any of these?”

Darren reminded silent. Polly quickly realized that these questions were all ones that Alex had asked, and now knew the answer to. She didn’t mention it, even though she wanted to.

“We could change that,” Darren finally stated. Polly looked up at this. He wanted to get to know her. Okay, that was fair. She could give him that much. But then what kind of excuse would she have?

“Sorry, I’m too attached to my best friends and you scare me sometimes”? She doubted that this response would cut it. But it was the truth. She had no idea how to be independent anymore, not with Alex and Cady taking care of her like they were her guardians. And Darren? Yeah, he scared her. Especially after what he did to her attacker. She was grateful, but would never want to be on his bad side.

“I’ll think about it,” she replied, promising weakly a promise that she had not even intended on keeping.